Tongs.



W. SMITH.

TONGS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. I9. |914.

Patented May 18, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEETI WMI/wm THE NORRIS PETERS 60,. PHOTC-LITHO., WASHING TOI W. SMITH.

TONGS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 19. 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented May 18, 1915.

THE NQRRJS PETERS CO.. PHOTOLITHD.. WASHINGTON. D. C.

TNTTEE STATES FA TENT FFTQE.

WAYNE SMITH, 0F ALTI-IEIMER, ARKANSAS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF T0 HENRY P. PENNY, OE ALTI-IEIMER, ARKANSAS.

TONGS.

Application led September 19, 1914.

T0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WAYNE SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Altheimer, in the county of Jeerson and State of Arkansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tongs, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention appertains to improvements in tools, particularly to that type especially adapted for use in blacksmithing operations.

The main object in view is to provide a device of this character for holding purposes, so constructed as to facilitate the manipulation by one hand where necessary, of the tool to cause clamping action of jaw members with which it is furnished onto an object to be held thereby, such clamping action being rendered automatic upon release of actuating mechanism for said jaw members.

More specifically, the invention comprises a relatively stationary element or jaw and a coperating movable jaw member provided with means for moving the latter to thereby open the jaw elements, such means including an operating lever operatively connected with the movable jaw member to aetuate the same upon oscillation of said lever, means for placing the movable jaw under tension upon oscillatory movement of the lever, and means for releasing the tension to thereby permit closing movement of the jaw elements.

Another advantageous feature of my invention lies in the utilization of detachable jaw members whereby to enable the attachment of different characters of holding, gripping, pinching or cutting elements so as to adapt the implement to wide usage in the work for which it is designed.

These and such other objects as may hereinafter appear are attained by the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter specifically described and claimed.

Reference will now be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, wherein Figure 1 is a horizontal, longitudinal, sectional view through a tool forming the em- Speccation of Letters Patent.

Fatented May 18, 1915.

Serial No. 862,617.

bodiment of my invention, Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken about on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view through the relatively stationary member of my invention parts being removed to more clearly show the tension spring for operating the movable jaw members of the device, Fig. a is a transverse sectional view on the line 4 4: of Fig. 1, Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1, Fig. 6 is a plan view of the slide member arranged intermediate of the operating lever and the rotatable elements for actuating the movable jaw of the tool, Figs. 7, 8, 9 and 10 respectively are side elevations, partly broken away and shown 1n section, of gripping, pinching and punching jaw attachments for the implement, and Fig. 11 is a bottom plan view of the jaw element shown in Fig. 10.

Throughout the following detail description, and on the several gures of the drawings, similar parts are referred to by like reference characters.

Referring to the drawings and specifically describing the embodiment of my invention the numeral 1, see Fig. 3, designates the body portion of the device, said body portion constituting a hollow casing for housing the actuating mechanism hereinafter to be more fully described, the member 1 being a relatively stationary member formed with an integral handle 2 at one end thereof, and having a detachable jaw member 3 removably secured at its opposite extremity. Pivotally secured to the member 1 adjacent to the handle 2, as indicated at 4, is an operating lever 5 having attached thereto a leaf spring 6 bearing at its free end against the handle 2 so as to normally hold the lever 5 in spaced relation to said handle. Arranged transversely of and having their bearings in the sides of the casing l are a pair of threaded shafts 7 and 7a, the former having a beveled pinion S secured thereto adjacent to one end which meshes with a smaller beveled pinion 9 secured to the corresponding end of the shaft 7a. It will be noted by reference to Fig. 1 that the pitch of the threads of the shaft 7 l is considerably less than that of the threads of the Shaft 7, being so designed as to commovable block 10 with which they have threaded connection, and said block has removably attached thereto the movable jaw element or member 11l corresponding to the relatively stationary jaw member 3 herein-fk before described. Secured upon a stub shaft 12, having its bearing at one end in the'casing 1 and at its other end journaled in a bearing plate 13 attached to the interior of the casing 1 by means'of the screws 14 and 15, is a ratchet gear 16 meshing with the pinion 8 on the screw shaft 7.

As shown most clearly in Fig. 6 of the drawings I provide a T-shaped slide member 17 mounted for reciprocation longitudinally of the device vbetween the guide lugs 18 shown most clearly in Fig. 3 of the drawings. The extremities of the arms of the slide member 17 each carry a dog 19, 19, respectively, said dogs being of substantially the same construction but so arranged as to coact with the ratchet teeth 20 of the gear 16 in such a manner that upon reciprocation of the slide member 17 the ratchet gear 16 will be caused to revolve and transmit rotary'motion'to the pinions Sand 9,r from thence to the movable block 10 carry-v ing the movable jaw 11. The movement or actuation just described is accomplished by oscillation of the operating lever 5 which is connected by means of the link 21 to the vrear extremity of the slide member '17.1 Thus, from the foregoing description, it will be apparent that when the operating lever 5 is moved and the' screw shafts 7 and 7a rotated the block 10 will be caused to move in Y a direction away from the relatively stationary jaw member 3, in this manner open-- ing the jaw elements to enable the gripping of an object therebetween.

Movementv of the relativelyv movable jaw member in a direction opposite to that above described, to cause clamping or closing movement thereof, is accomplished through the means now to be described. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3 most clearly the stub shaft 12 carries a casing 22 within which isdisposed a spring -23 attached tothe casing 1 at one end, and to the shaft12 at its other end. Thus, as the ratchet gear 16 is rotated the shaft is placed under the tension of the spring 23, said spring tending to revolve the gear in the opposite direction which would naturally cause closing movement of the jaw cated extremity of the dog 19. A link 27 also connects the trigger rod 25 to a second lever 28 arranged similarly to the lever 26 so as to extend into the bifurcated extremity of the dog 19. A spring 29 is secured to the handle 2 adjacent the button 24 so as to hold or maintain the trigger in normal position with the dogs 19, 19 in engagement with the ratchet gear 1 6. When the jaw elements 34 and 11 are relatively separated a suiiicient distance'and itis desired to close the same the`button24 is pressed so asV to rock the rod 25on the shoulder of the casing indicated by the numeral 30 in Fig. 3 thereby moving the levers 26 and 28 which in turn disengage the pawls 19, 19 from the gear and releasethe tension spring 23, which rotates the shaft, the' gear elements and screw shafts hereinbefore described, causing the 'block 10 and its jaw 11 vto vmove towardv thejrelatively stationary jaw 3 until the object disposed therebetween is clamped.

,The casing 1 is provided with a cover 31 for completely housing the actuatedv mechanism of thisk device and it will also be clear from Figi lfthat the screw shafts 7 and 7a are each provided with aremovable 'journal 32, 32a having threaded connection with said casing.

It will be obvious from the foregoing description that the limplement is especially useful because of the fact that it can readily be manipulated by one hand, the difficulty usually experienced in blacksmithing being thatV onevhandY usually carries the4 hammer and is not free to operate the holding tool carried by the other hand. The oscillation of the lever 5 enables the opening ofthe jaw elements quickly and when the object isr tuted for the j aw elements shown in Fig. of the drawings, and suchfattachmentfs may be secured in place of the clamping jaws 3 and 11 quite readily accordingto the usefor which'V the tool is desired.- rIhese attachments constitute the clamping, cutting,

pinching and'punching members usually em-V ployed in the blacksmithing art.

Having thus describedV the invention, what" I claim as new is n 1. In a tool of the class` described, the combination of a stationary jaw, a movable jaw for coperating therewith, means for actuatingthe movable jaw to effect relative opening movement of the jaw'members,an

oscillatory member for operating the actuating means aforesaid whereby upon continuous oscillation of said member to effect progressive opening movement of the movable jaw, said actuating means including locking elements for holding the movable jaw at adjusted positions, release means coacting with the actuating means for disengaging the locking elements, and means for automatically operating said movable jaw upon release of the locking elements.

2. In a tool of the class described, the combination of a relatively stationary member including a handle, a movable member arranged to coact with said stationary member, rotatable means carrying said movable member, a lever operatively connected with the rotatable means for actuating the movable member aforesaid, a spring adapted to be placed under tension upon actuation of the lever, said spring being adapted to eX- ert tension on the rotatable means, ratchet means intermediate of the lever and the rotatable means aforesaid, and a trigger adapted to release said ratchet means to permit actuation of the movable member under tension of the spring.

3. In a tool of the class described, a relatively stationary aw member, a handle connected thereto, a relatively movable jaw member, a screw shaft for moving said movable jaw member, an operating lever associated with the handle, a gear for rotating said screw shaft, and means intermediate of the gear and the lever for actuating said gear, whereby to cause actuation of the movable j aw with respect to the stationary jaw member. t

4. In a tool of the class described, a relatively stationary aw member, a handle connected thereto, a relatively movable jaw member, a screw shaft for moving said movable jaw member, an operating lever associated with the handle, a gear for rotating said screw shaft, a slide member arranged intermediate of the gear and the lever and connected to the latter whereby upon oscillation of said lever to actuate the gear, and means carried by said slide member for locking the gear against movement in one direction.

5. In a tool of the class described, a relatively stationary aw member, a handle connected thereto, a relatively movable jaw member, a screw shaft for moving said movable jaw member, an operating lever associated with the handle, a gear for rotating said screw shaft, a slide member arranged intermediate of the gear and the lever and connected to the latter whereby upon oscillation of said lever to actuate the gear, means carried by said slide member for locking the gear against movement in one direction, and means for releasing the locking means aforesaid to permit movement of the gear in a direction opposite that incidental to movement thereof upon actuation of the operating lever.

6. In a tool of the class described, a relatively stationary jaw member, a handle connected thereto, a relatively movable jaw member, a screw shaft for moving said movable jaw member, an operating lever associated with the handle, a gear for rotating said screw shaft, a slide member arranged intermediate of the gear and the lever and connected to the latter whereby upon oscillation of said lever to actuate the gear, means carried by said slide member for locking the gear against movement in one direction, means for releasing the locking means aforesaid to permit movement of the gear in a direction opposite to that incidental to movement thereof upon actuation of the operating lever, and a spring associated with the gear and adapted to be placed under tension upon actuation of the lever aforesaid, said spring being adapted to actuate the movable jaw member upon release of the locking means.

7. In a tool of the class described, the combination of a body forming a casing, a jaw member carried thereby at one end, and a handle formed thereon at its opposite end, a screw shaft journaled in said casing, a movable jaw member carried by said screw shaft, a stub shaft journaled in the casino, a ratchet gear carried by the stub shaft and operatively connected to the screw shaft aforesaid, means for actuating said ratchet gear comprising a lever, and a reciprocatory member having operative engagement with the ratchet gear whereby to rotate said gear in one direction upon oscillation of the lever, tension means comprising a spring mounted on said stub shaft and adapted to be placed under tension upon rotation of the ratchet gear aforesaid, said spring tending to move the movable jaw, and a trigger mechanism carried by the handle and adapted to release the ratchet gear to allow the spring to actuate the movable aw.

8. Iny a tool of the class described, the combination of a body forming a casing, a jaw member carried thereby at one end, and a handle formed thereon at its opposite end, a screw shaft journaled in said casino', a movable j aw member carried by said screw shaft, a stub shaft journaled in the casing, a ratchet gear carried by the stub shaft and operatively connected to the screw shaft aforesaid, means for actuating said ratchet gear comprising a lever, a slide member arranged intermediate of the ratchet gear and the lever and operatively connected to said lever, and dogs carried by said slide member and engaging the ratchet gear, a trigger rod carried by said handle and operatively vconnected to the dog aforesaid, and a spring In testimony whereof I affix my signature czrried bydthe stub shaft and adapted fso be 'in preseneeof two Witnesses. Y

3 ace un er tension u Jon oscillation o the iever on movement ofl the ratchet gear in WAYNE SMITH' 5 one direction, said spring being adapted to Witnesses: i

actuate the movable jaw member upon rei JAMESHALL,

lease of the dogs by the trigger aforesaid. JOE WALKER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents 'eah, by addressing the Commissioner'of llnatenvigsA Washington, D. C. 

